SINGAPORE: A maid’s employer took to an online forum on Sunday (March 31) to ask if it is considered normal for maids to be given a curfew during their days off. Many shared their two cents on the matter.
“Please enlighten me because I never hired a helper in my life,” the employer wrote. “Also, how many off days every month? I’m curious because I see quite a few disparities here and there.”
Many responded to the call for insight, sharing the set-up of either their own households and maids or those of their friends and relatives with their domestic helpers.
“My brother’s maid has one off day a week so per month, it is four off days. Her working hours are only around 9 am to 1 pm then she can nap or whatever til around 4 pm to 9 pm.
By 10 pm, she isn’t given any more work…she can choose to sleep or stay awake. Timing can vary on some days depending on the situation.
“Most of the time, the schedule is up to her. She’s just living as our assistant to help take care of the cooking and babysitting the baby when we aren’t around and basic housekeeping so we don’t really ask for a lot from her.”
“My helper gets an off day once a week, birthdays, and some public holidays as well,” shared another. “Public holidays are not mandatory off days for helpers so that’s up to your discretion.
For curfew, we set 9 pm as the guideline but if she’s late, she just needs to text us to let us know so we don’t worry that something has happened to her while she’s out.
The MOM law is eight hours off on her off day if you want to stay within legalities.”
“My grandma’s helper is standard every Sunday off,” a third wrote. “But sometimes she chooses not to take it (then my dad will just pay her accordingly).
However, sometimes she will request to go out on a weekday and my aunt generally allows it as long as she informs her beforehand. Generally, we tell her to come home before 12 midnight, but she is always back before 9 pm.”
Ministry of Manpower rules on MDW rest days
On its website, the MOM states that migrant domestic workers are entitled to one weekly rest day. Employers and domestic workers must coordinate and agree on a set day of the week.
MOM also states, “All employers must ensure their MDWs have at least one rest day each month that cannot be compensated away.
If your MDW agrees to work on the remaining rest days in the month, you must compensate her with one of the following:
- At least 1 day’s salary.
Note: This is an additional payment and is not counted into the MDW’s basic salary. - A replacement rest day taken within the same month.”
The MOM also says that in order to meet the needs of both parties, the rest day schedule can be flexible.
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